This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-26239 filed on May 13, 2002, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microwave ovens, and more particularly, to a microwave oven having a partitionable contact unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a microwave oven is an electrically operated oven having a magnetron which generates high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The high-frequency electromagnetic waves have a fundamental frequency of 2450 MHz and are radiated into a cooking cavity of the microwave oven to cook food.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional microwave oven having a body 1 partitioned into a cooking cavity (not shown) and a machine room 2. The cooking cavity seats food therein during a cooking operation, and the machine room 2 receives a variety of electrical and electronic devices therein. A door (not shown) is hinged to the body 1 at a position in front of the cooking cavity so as to close the cooking cavity. A control panel 3 is installed on a front wall of the body 1 at a position in front of the machine room 2, and allows a user to select desired operational modes and conditions of the microwave oven.
A variety of electrical and electronic devices, which drive and control the microwave oven, are installed in the machine room 2. The electrical and electronic devices installed in the machine room 2 include a printed circuit board (PCB) 4, a magnetron 5, a high-tension transformer 6, a cooling fan 7, a body latch 8, three safety switches 9A, 9B and 9C, a noise filter 10, and a temperature sensor 11. The PCB 4 is installed in the back of the control panel 3, and outputs control signals to the devices inside the machine room 2 in response to input signals output from the control panel 3, so as to drive the devices. The magnetron 5 generates high-frequency electromagnetic waves, which are radiated into the cooking cavity. The high-tension transformer 6 applies a high voltage to the magnetron 5. The cooling fan 7 sucks atmospheric air into the machine room 2 so as to cool the devices, such as the high-tension transformer 6 and the magnetron 5, installed within the machine room 2. The body latch 8 selectively engages with the door to maintain the door at a closed position, or releases the door to open it. The three safety switches 9A, 9B and 9C are installed on the body latch 8, and prevent a leakage of the high-frequency electromagnetic waves through the opening of the cooking cavity where the door is opened. The noise filter 10 is connected to an electrical cord extending from an external power supply, thus filtering an input electrical current to remove high-frequency noise from the current. The temperature sensor 11 senses a temperature inside the cooking cavity.
To operate such a conventional microwave oven in a selected mode, it is necessary to transmit both a filtered electrical current, which has been processed by the noise filter 10, and signals output from, for example, the PCB 4 to the devices installed in the machine room 2. Therefore, a contact unit 12 is provided in the machine room 2. The contact unit 12 is connected to the electrical and electronic devices to transceive the electrical current and signals between the devices.
The contact unit 12 includes strands of electrical wires with a terminal provided at each end of each wire and connected to an associated device, so as to transceive the electrical current and signals from or to the device.
In such a conventional microwave oven, the contact unit 12 is produced in a form of a single structure, and is necessarily connected to the devices installed in the machine room 2 so as to transceive the electrical current and the signals between the devices. Therefore, the installation of the contact unit 12 in the machine room 2 is only allowed after the installation of all of the devices in the machine room 2. Therefore, the conventional microwave oven having such a contact unit 12 is problematic in that the order of installing the devices and the contact unit 12 in the machine room 2 is undesirably limited. In addition, since only a limited space remains in the machine room when installing the contact unit 12 in the room 2 after the installation of all of the devices in the machine room 2, it is very difficult to install the contact unit 12.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave oven, which is designed to allow an easy installation of a contact unit in a machine room of the microwave oven. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing such a microwave oven.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a microwave oven comprising a machine room which includes a plurality of devices installed in the machine room, a first contact unit connected at a first end thereof to a part of the devices, and a second contact unit connected at a first end thereof to another part of the devices and connected at a second end thereof to a second end of the first contact unit.
The first contact unit comprises first electrical wires having a first transceiving terminal provided at a first end of each of the first electrical wires and connected to the part of the devices, and a first contact terminal which binds second ends of the first electrical wires into a single body and connected to the second contact unit. The second contact unit comprises second electrical wires having a second transceiving terminal provided at a first end of each of the second electrical wires and connected to the another part of the devices, and a second contact terminal which binds second ends of the second electrical wires into a single body and connected to the first contact terminal.
The first and second contact terminals are separated and connected to each other through a fitting-type engagement.
One of the first and second contact terminals has projecting terminals, and the remaining contact terminal has holed terminals which receive the corresponding projecting terminals therein. The first and second contact terminals are electrically connected to each other in response to the holding terminals receiving the corresponding projecting terminals.
The part of the devices connected to the first contact unit includes at least one of a noise filter which removes high-frequency components from electricity supplied to the microwave oven, a cooling fan which cools the machine room, a temperature sensor which senses a temperature in a cooking cavity of the microwave oven, and a lamp which illuminates an interior of the cooking cavity. The first transceiving terminals include at least one of a fan terminal connected to the cooling fan, a filter terminal connected to the noise filter, a sensor terminal connected to the temperature sensor, and a lamp terminal connected to the lamp.
The another part of the devices connected to the second contact unit includes at least one of a printed circuit board which outputs control signals to perform a cooking operation, a body latch which selectively engages with a door hinged to a front of a cooking cavity of the microwave oven so as to close/open the door, at least one safety switch which is installed on the body latch and prevents a leakage of high-frequency electromagnetic waves from the cooking cavity in response to the door being opened, a high-tension transformer which applies a high voltage to a magnetron of the microwave oven that irradiates the high-frequency electromagnetic waves, and a drive motor which rotates a cooking tray installed in the cooking cavity. The second transceiving terminals include at least one of a PCB terminal connected to the printed circuit board, at least one switch terminal connected to the safety switch, a transformer terminal connected to the high-tension transformer, and a motor terminal connected to the drive motor.
The first contact unit is connected to the noise filter and the cooling fan through the filter terminal and the fan terminal of the first transceiving terminals, respectively, so as to form a cooling fan assembly.
The second contact unit is connected to the safety switch installed on the body latch through the switch terminal of the second transceiving terminals, so as to form a body latch assembly.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a microwave oven comprising a machine room which includes a plurality of devices installed in the machine room, a cooling fan assembly which comprises a cooling fan which cools the machine room, a noise filter which is mounted at the cooling fan and removes high-frequency noise from electricity supplied to the microwave oven, and a first contact unit including first electrical wires having a first transceiving terminal provided at a first end of each of the first electrical wires and connected to a part of the devices including the cooling fan and the noise filter, and a first contact terminal which binds second ends of the first electrical wires into a single body. The machine room further includes a body latch assembly which comprises a body latch which selectively engages with a door hinged to a front of a cooking cavity of the microwave oven so as to close/open the door, at least one safety switch which is installed to the body latch and prevents a leakage of high-frequency electromagnetic waves from the cooking cavity in response to the door being opened, and a second contact unit including second electrical wires having a second transceiving terminal provided at a first end of each of the second electrical wires and connected to another part of the devices including the safety switch, and a second contact terminal which binds second ends of the second electrical wires into a single body and connected to the first contact terminal.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturing a microwave oven having a machine room which includes a plurality of devices, the method comprising producing a first contact unit being provided at a first end thereof with a first transceiving terminal for transceiving electricity and signals to or from a part of the devices installed in the machine room, and at a second end thereof with a first contact terminal, producing a second contact unit being provided at a first end thereof with a second transceiving terminal for transceiving electricity and signals to or from another part of the devices, and at a second end thereof with a second contact terminal for being electrically connected to the first contact terminal, connecting the first contact unit to any one of the part of the devices to form a first assembly, connecting the second contact unit to any one of the another part of the devices to form a second assembly, installing the first assembly in the machine room, installing the second assembly in the machine room, and connecting the first contact terminal and the second contact terminal to each other.
In the method, the part of the devices associated with the first contact unit is at least one of a noise filter, a cooling fan, a temperature sensor and a lamp, and the another part of the devices associated with the second contact unit is at least one of a printed circuit board, a body latch, a safety switch and a high-tension transformer.
In the above method, the first assembly is a cooling fan assembly produced by connecting the first contact unit to the cooling fan and the noise filter installed at the cooling fan, and the second assembly is a body latch assembly produced by connecting the second contact unit to the safety switch installed at the body latch.